After visiting the Syrian opposition over the Memorial Day weekend – and getting caught in a photo op snafu in which he ended up alongside a terrorist kidnapper – Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday that the US should participate in a no-fly zone in Syria. McCain said that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had the upper hand in the conflict between the Iranian-backed regime and the al-Qaeda backed rebellion. “We can establish that safe zone,” McCain said, and I’m confident that we will prevail. Air superiority is a key element in any conflict with this terrain.”
McCain denied that the US had no real interests in Syria. “It is in our strategic interest to see Bashar Assad go.”
Russia has recently become deeply involved in the Syrian conflict, backing the Assad regime and threatening Western “hotheads” by carting in military weaponry.